Mike Graham
Audio By Carbonatix
Eddie Garcia is officially headed back to North Texas, this time as the chief of the Fort Worth Police Department.
The current assistant city manager for Austin, and former chief of the Dallas Police Department, was recently announced as a last-minute candidate for the top brass in Fort Worth.
Fort Worth City Manager Jay Chapa announced the appointment on Thursday afternoon, following weeks of interviews that vetted over 50 applicants vying to replace retiring Chief Neil Noakes. Garcia’s announcement as a finalist for the position in mid-July raised questions about special treatment for the former DPD chief, who critics say submitted an application for the position beyond the deadline.
“There was not a hard deadline, there was no special treatment,” Chapa said after being prodded about the application deadline by Councilmember Chris Nettles at a council work session in early August. “There was nothing like that in mind.”
When Garcia left Big D to follow former Dallas City Manager T.C. Broadnax to Austin, he said he would never wear a uniform again. But just last week, at a forum with the other two finalists for the FWPD position, Garcia said he realized he was “born to be a police officer.” Garcia was out of uniform for less than a year before this realization.
Garcia was revered during his four years leading DPD and launched several officer-wellness initiatives and significantly decreased city-wide crime rates. Upon his departure, Mayor Eric Johnson called him the “perfect police chief at the perfect time.”
He left before the city was mandated by a controversial proposal to increase its force by 900 officers within a few short years or face litigation, a proposal he openly opposed, and has shaped the tenure of current DPD Chief Daniel Comeaux.
Garcia was selected over two other candidates, interim Fort Worth Chief Robert Alldredge and former Dallas Deputy Chief Vernon Hale. The department has not announced when he will be fitted for his new cowboy hat, which is not required, but is commonly worn by FWPD officers.
